What to do to keep cucumber leaves from turning yellow: simple tips

Although cucumbers are generally easy vegetables to grow, they are still quite sensitive to the conditions in which they are kept. One of the main signals that something has gone wrong and your harvest is in jeopardy is the yellowing of the leaves of the cucumber vine.

Experienced gardeners know how to recognize the cause of this yellowing and correct mistakes in caring for cucumbers. OBOZ.UA asked them about their secrets.

Cold and temperature changes

The cucumber vine is sensitive to too low a temperature and sudden changes in temperature. This problem can be especially serious in the spring - right after the seedlings are transferred to the open ground. If the temperature drops to +10, the leaves on the plant begin to turn yellow, and if it gets even lower, the whole plant dies. The vegetable also does not tolerate overheating.

The optimal temperature for growing cucumbers is 23-25°C. To maintain this regime, cover the cucumbers with agrofibre in case of low and sharp temperature changes. It is also safe to grow the vegetable in a greenhouse. However, it will need to be well ventilated in the heat.

Overheating

If the air gets too dry and hot, cucumbers turn yellow. The leaves begin to dry and curl, and the ovary falls off. To protect the bed from the heat, you need to cover it with a net that will create partial shade. And make sure that on sunny days, water does not get on the leaves of the plant during irrigation - this leads to burns.

Lack of light

The cucumber vine is a very light-loving plant, and it does not feel well in conditions of lack of light, which affects the condition of the leaves. That's why it's not easy to grow a vegetable on a windowsill - it's too dark there.

If the lower leaves begin to turn yellow from a lack of light, this is not a problem - shading near the ground is unavoidable. If the upper layers of the leaves are affected, provide the plant with additional lighting. For example, install phytolamps in a greenhouse. Thinning out the bush and removing yellowed leaves also works well. And it's better to grow the vegetable vertically, allowing the vine to climb a trellis.

Watering mistakes

Both drought and overwatering can cause yellowing of cucumber leaves. Due to dry soil, it appears on the top, while overwatering affects the entire plant, in particular due to root rot, which can develop in such conditions. The vine also does not like too cold water. Such watering stops its growth.

To clean up overwatered soil in a cucumber bed, remove the mulch, let the soil dry, and if you grow vegetables in a greenhouse, ventilate it well. Preheat the water for watering cucumbers in the sun to 23-24 degrees. Apply the liquid according to the weather conditions and the stage of development of the plant.

Before flowering, cucumbers need moderate soil moisture, and should be watered about every 4 days. During the period of active flowering and fruiting, the frequency of watering is increased to once every 2-3 days, and in the heat of the day, it is made daily. The soil under the cucumbers should be soaked deeply, and the bed should be mulched to retain moisture.

Fertilization flaws

Lack of nutrients in the soil is also one of the key reasons for yellowing and curling of the leaves of the cucumber vine. A deficiency of trace elements is manifested by the appearance of yellowness on the veins of the leaves, they dry out from the edges. Lack of nitrogen is also manifested by curling of the leaf blades.

When growing cucumbers, you need to keep in mind that the plant bears fruit very intensively, so it needs regular fertilization. It is best to choose mixtures for cucumbers and zucchini, as they contain an optimal balance of nutrients. It is also good to add compost, humus, and wood ash when preparing the beds for planting cucumbers.

Diseases

Fungal pathogens, such as powdery mildew, also negatively affect the condition of the leaves of cucumber vines. To protect the vegetable from such diseases, it must be prophylactically treated with fungicides. And also to comply with all the conditions for growing the plant. It is the weakened vine that is most susceptible to disease.

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